What's the best location to stand if you need to tell a narrative and bond with "judges"? Is it from behind a desk/table, i.e. a physical barrier between the speaker and the judge or is it while standing in front of the same desk/table, that is the actual center of the courtroom without a physical barrier between the speaker and the judges.

Any remarks?

Background: as a lawyer (continental europe; Belgium) I have to present my case from behind a desk, that is an actual real physical barrier creating a distance of around 4 meters between myself and the judges. On the other hand the client himself sits in front of the same desk and should stand up when he speaks. There is no barrier between him and the judges, the distance is more or less 3 meters (and can be further reduced to 2 meters without looking suspicious).

It's not uncommon for clients to say something.

In this particular situation, the client is a trained speaker himself (and very good at it) so he could tell the narrative himself (obviously in accordance with me). During the hearing we want to focus on the emotions and the narrative not on the very technical judicial argumentations which will be presented in writing. It's generally accepted that in this particular court emotions are crucial.

Hey @ErikV, great question! When you can, it's best to remove any physical barriers from you and the intended party. What happens with podiums/desks/tables is that that inadvertently create a block and that physical block can create a conversational, intellectual, or emotional block between the two parties. If your client does not have the block (and even better is a trained speaker), I think a narrative from his perspective is better-served to this specific interaction.

This is such an awesome and very analytical question. I agree with Danielle @dmbaker177 I think that it is best to tell a narrative in front of the desk without a physical barrier. The reason I believe this is because with the desk between the narrator and the judges that physical barrier is not only physical but also and emotional barrier. That desk creates distance from the narrator and the judges thus there won't be a strong connection to be established. With the lack of connection the judges won't be able to relate to or understand the story.